Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Whatisan InverseFunction?
Aninversefunctionisafunctionthatwillundoanythingthattheoriginalfunctiondoes.Forexample,we
allhaveawayoftyingourshoes,andhowwetieourshoescouldbecalledafunction.So,whatwouldbe
theinversefunctionoftyingourshoes?Theinversefunctionwouldbeuntyingourshoes,because
untyingourshoeswillundotheoriginalfunctionof tyingourshoes.
Letslookataninversefunctionfromamathematicalpointofview.Considerthefunctionf(x)=2x5.If
wetakeanyvalueofxandplugitintof(x)whatwouldhappentothatvalueofx?First, thevalueofxwould
getmultipliedby2andthenwewouldsubtract5. Thetwomathematicaloperationsthataretakingplacein
thefunctionf(x)aremultiplicationandsubtraction.Nowletsconsidertheinversefunction.Whattwo
mathematicaloperationswouldbeneededtoundof(x)? Divisionandaddition wouldbeneededtoundo
themultiplicationandsubtraction.Alittlefartherdownthepagewewillfindtheinverseoff(x)=2x 5,
andhopefullytheinversefunction will contain bothdivisionandaddition (seeexample5).
Notation
1
Note: f -1(x) . Itisveryimportantnottoconfusefunctionnotationwithnegativeexponents.
f (x)
DoestheFunctionhavean Inverse?
Notallfunctionshaveaninverse,soitisimportanttodeterminewhetherornotafunctionhasaninverse
beforewetryandfindtheinverse.Ifafunctiondoesnothaveaninverse,then weneedtorealizethe
function doesnothaveaninversesowedonotwastetimetryingtofindsomethingthatdoesnotexist.
Sohowdoweknowifafunctionhasaninverse? Todetermineifafunctionhasaninversefunction,we
needtotalkaboutaspecialtypeoffunctioncalledaOnetoOneFunction.A onetoonefunctionisa
functionwhereeachinput(xvalue)hasauniqueoutput(yvalue).Toputitanotherway,everytimewe
pluginavalueofx wewillgetauniquevalueofy, thesameyvaluewillneverappearmorethanonce.A
onetoonefunctionisspecialbecauseonly onetoonefunctionshaveaninversefunction.
Note:OnlyOnetoOneFunctionshaveaninversefunction.
ExamplesNowletslookatafewexamplestohelpdemonstratewhata onetoonefunctionis.
Example1:Determineif thefunctionf={(7,3),(8,5),(2,11),(6,4)}isaonetoonefunction.
Rememberthatonly onetoonefunctionhaveaninverse.
IstheFunctionaOnetoOneFunction?
Wecandetermineiffunctionsareonetoonebylookingatorderedpairsanddeterminingifeachofthey
valuesisunique,butwhatifwedonothaveorderedpairs?Wecouldcreateorderedpairsbyplugging
differentxvaluesintothefunctionandfindingthecorrespondingyvaluesgivingussomeorderedpairs.
Ratherthanspendingtimecreatingorderedpairs,whynotconsiderlookingattheentiregraphofthe
functioninstead?Bylookingattheentiregraphratherthanafewpoints,weshouldstill beabletodetermine
ifthefunctionisaonetoonefunction ornot.
Inlookingatthegraphofthefunctionwecandetermineifafunctionisaonetoonefunction ornot by
applyingtheHorizontal LineTest, orHLT. IfthegraphofthefunctionpassestheHorizontalLineTest,then
thefunctionisaonetoonefunction.IfthegraphofthefunctionfailstheHorizontalLineTest,thenthe
functionisnotaonetoonefunction.
HorizontalLineTestTheHLTsaysthatafunctionisaonetoonefunctionifthereisnohorizontal
linethatintersectsthegraphofthefunctionatmorethanonepoint.
ByapplyingtheHorizontalLineTestnotonlycanwedetermineifafunctionisaonetoonefunction,but
moreimportantlywecandetermineifafunctionhasaninverseornot.
ExamplesNowletslookatafewexamplestohelpexplaintheHorizontal LineTest.
3
Example3:Determineif thefunctionf(x)= - x +2 isaonetoonefunction.
4
Todetermineiff(x)isaonetoonefunction,weneedtolookatthegraphoff(x).Sincef(x)isalinear
equationthegraphoff(x)isalinewithaslopeof 3/4andayinterceptof(0,2).
Inlookingatthegraph,youcanseethatanyhorizontalline(shownin
red)drawn onthegraphwill intersectthegraphoff(x)only once.
Therefore,f(x)isaonetoonefunction andf(x)musthaveaninverse.
Example4:Determineifthefunctiong(x)=x3 4xisaonetoonefunction.
Todetermineifg(x)isaonetoonefunction,weneedtolookatthegraphofg(x).
Inlookingatthegraph,youcanseethatthehorizontalline(shownin
red)drawnonthegraphintersectsthegraphofg(x)morethanonce.
Therefore,g(x)isnotaonetoonefunction andg(x)doesnothavean
inverse.
HowtoFindtheInverseFunction
Nowthatwehavediscussedwhataninversefunctionis,thenotationusedtorepresentinversefunctions,
onetoonefunctions,andtheHorizontal LineTest,wearereadytotryandfindaninversefunction.
Herearethestepsrequiredtofindtheinversefunction:
Step1: Determineifthefunctionhasaninverse.Isthefunctionaonetoonefunction?Ifthe
functionisaonetoonefunction,gotostep2.Ifthefunctionisnotaonetoonefunction,
thensaythatthefunctiondoesnothaveaninverseandstop.
Step2: Changef(x)toy.
Step3: Switchxandy.
Step4: Solvefory.
Byfollowingthese5stepswecanfindtheinversefunction.Makesurethatyoufollowall5steps.Many
peoplewillskipstep1andjustassumethatthefunctionhasaninversehowever,noteveryfunctionhasan
inverse,becausenoteveryfunctionisaonetoonefunction.OnlyfunctionsthatpasstheHorizontalLine
Testareonetoonefunctionsandonlyonetoonefunctionshaveaninverse.
ExamplesNowletsusethestepsshownabovetoworkthroughsomeexamplesoffindinginversefunctions.
Thisfunction passestheHorizontalLineTestwhichmeansit
isaonetoonefunction thathasaninverse.
y=2x 5 Changef(x)toy.
x=2y 5 Switchxandy.
x + 5 = 2y Solvefory byadding5toeachsideandthendividingeach
sideby 2.
x + 5
=y
2
x+5 1 5 Changeybacktof1(x).
f -1(x) = = x+
2 2 2
x + 5 1 5
Therefore, f -1(x)= or f -1(x) = x + .
2 2 2
Therefore, f -1(x)doesnotexist.
Example7:Iff(x)=(x 2)3,findtheinverse.
Thisfunction passestheHorizontalLineTestwhichmeansit
isaonetoonefunction thathasaninverse.
Solvefory by takingthecuberootofeachsideandthen
3
x = 3 (y - 2)3
adding2toeachside.
3
x = y - 2
Changeybacktof1(x).
3
x + 2 = y
AdditionExamples
Ifyouwouldliketoseemoreexamplesoffindinginversefunctions,justclickonthelinkbelow.
AdditionalExamples
PracticeProblems
Nowitisyourturntotryafewpracticeproblemsonyourown.Workoneachoftheproblemsbelowand
thenclickonthelinkattheendtocheckyouranswers.
4x - 3
Problem1:Iff(x)= , findf-1 (x).
2x +1
5 3
Problem2:Iff(x)= x - ,findf-1 (x).
6 4
Problem3:Iff(x)=(x+2)2 1,find f-1 (x).
2x - 5
Problem6:Iff(x)= ,findf-1 (x).
3
SolutionstoPracticeProblems